Local Couple Say “I Do” On New Netflix Series

Randy Caplinger met the man he would eventually marry at an unexpected time in 2012. Fresh out of a breakup, he ventured onto a dating app to see what was there. He expected nothing, but he found Skyler Leffingwell, a young man with a Justin Bieber–esque haircut. They hit it off immediately, and have been inseparable since. 

The Indianapolis couple has faced the world together—breakups, homophobia, and even homelessness all seemed to stand in their way at one point or another.

It’s been eight years now since they met, and every twist and turn has brought them to the new eight-episode Netflix series Say I Do, which begins streaming July 1. Experts Jeremiah Brent, Thai Ngyuen, and Gabriele Bertaccini went to a different city for each episode, including Indianapolis, to help couples create the wedding of their dreams in less than a week.

Skyler stumbled upon the application for the show on Facebook. He figured it was a long shot, but filled it out anyway. Fast forward through a couple of interviews, and they once again found themselves in an unexpected place when they were selected to be a featured couple. 

They say that the experience Say I Do provided was magical. Anything they dreamed up for their wedding, the show had them covered. Skyler got to go to Carmel Kitchen for a fun and fancy taste test and Randy browsed blooms to his heart’s content at George Thomas Florist, but they say the best experience was the “Coming Out” party the show organized for them at HiFi in Fountain Square.

Local LGBTQ+ folks were invited to come out and tell their coming out stories. Randy and Skyler say that this experience was special to them—they were able to reconnect with their community. 

“We were two guys who were very much disconnected from the community just for a fear of not being accepted. We wondered, Do we truly fit in?, even though we were two gay men,” Skyler said “It was our first major experience being in a room full of people from the gay community, and it was just truly an amazing night—like, it really opened our eyes and we felt at home.” 

For Randy and Skyler, the show was life-changing. Adjusting to life on film was a challenge, as they had to tackle the turbulence of their past with a camera one step behind.

“Going through like filming for the first week and a half was solely just based on talking about all of the ugly in our relationship—some fun, but it was mostly focused on all of our struggles,and that was really, really hard,” Randy says.  “So I think for us, when we got to the wedding, and when I walked down the aisle, and then we were standing up at the altar, we both were looking out at everyone that was together… it was a feeling that you can’t really describe until you actually experience it for yourself.”

“At the end of the day,” says Randy, “although it is very intimidating to be public for everyone to be able to watch, we just hope that in the long run it really inspires or helps someone get through a hard time and just grow.”